Anyone know anything about wall/ceiling cracks?

[Mama12345678]

We’ve seen a house we like but there’s a crack in the living room we’re a bit worried about. It’s on an internal wall but runs up and over the ceiling to the external wall at the front of the house - see photo. The house is a Victorian semi. We’ve never owned an older house so don’t know whether this is sinister or nothing to worry about. Can anyone (@PigletJohn?) advise from experience?

The house is stretching our budget so if it needs structural work we can’t afford it, but I don’t want to walk away if it’s nothing serious.

I'm not an expert so wouldn't want to comment on the specific crack. But I would say that you should get a full survey done on a house of that age anyway which would reveal any subsidence problems. As someone who has bought an older house I will add that it WILL need work and everything will cost you more than you've budgeted for - personally I wouldn't buy an older house at the top of my budget for that reason.

Yes we would definitely get a full survey done if we went for it. Point taken about the work involved - it’s been renovated in the last decade by the current owners but the unknown does worry me. But it’s so pretty 😭

Bought a 1930s house a few years back, took off the awful woodchip and artex and there were cracks galore. None of this was on our (full) survey however. Luckily it wasn't structural and only due to the plaster being the original and so v old. But it meant we had to spend a lot more money than we bargained for replastering the whole house and getting new ceilings. Hairline cracks and anything under a couple of millimetres aren't usually a concern. Unless they are old cracks which have been plastered over and are now reappearing. Does the plaster looks new?

So similar to others I would advise not stretching the budget with an old house...it's stressful!

We budgeted £3k to have the lounge reskimmed and the fireplace unboarded. Then my husband fell through the floor (rotten joists, needed a whole new floor), we pulled off the wallpaper and most of the plaster came with it (like... layers upon layers, we had to go right back to the solid concrete wall and replaster all the external-facing walls) and the fireplace turned out to be solid concrete just behind the wooden fascia and had to be removed with a kango hammer. £10k later and we have a very lovely living room but absolutely no savings!

It's not for the faint-hearted, or the naive! Just go in to it with your eyes wide open.

It's curious that the diagonal crack shows on the two adjacent walls in a corner, and on the ceiling between them. I wonder if the corner might be moving. The crack is currently very small, but it may have been filled and redecorated. An old crack is less interesting unless it is moving or getting bigger.

Any house, in a town, that was built before 1945 should have cracks in it, but if it hasn't fallen down yet, it probably won't.

Do you think the coving is original plaster, or modern replacement? Is it cracked?

Is there a downpipe or drain close to the crack, indoors or out?

Have the original (heavy-wooden framed) windows been taken out and replaced with something less capable of supporting the walls above? Have internal walls or chimneybreasts been removed, and is there evidence that Building Control approval was given?

Look at the outside of the wall, and inspect the bricks (noe of them should be cracked) and the mortar or pointing. Are there cracks or signs that it is new?

An experienced local surveyor should have an opinion after inspecting. Ask for this crack to be diagnosed.

Thank you, I have no idea of the answers to those questions but they give me a great place to start. Much appreciated.